City pays $225,000 in case of dog shot by police

Costa Mesa officials have agreed to pay $225,000 to a local family to settle a lawsuit over the family’s dog, which was shot by police.

Wendy-Jo Mansfield and her two sons, William Donald Holst and Cody Ryan Holst, all of Costa Mesa, sued the city after their pit bull was shot by police in 2004. The financial settlement was finalized Friday, according to a statement from Mansfield’s attorney, Jerry Steering.

In Steering’s account of the May 2004 incident, Costa Mesa police shot the dog in Mansfield’s backyard after it approached an officer. Officers were in the yard looking for two of William Holst’s friends after they fled from officers attempting to give them tickets, according to Steering.

Efforts to reach city officials were unsuccessful.